2024 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors: Andrew Wu, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

 

Andrew Wu
Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

“I am a student of Professor Andrew Wu, attending FinTech class-Blockchain, Payment Tech, Crypto and other Technology Innovations. He teaches Generative AI class as well, and he is an expert at natural language processing. He simplifies the most difficult of the technological aspects, and he bridges the gap between theory and practical seamlessly, bringing the subject to life.

“While getting students to participate is a difficult endeavor that every professor takes when teaching a class, that’s not the case with Professor Andrew Wu. He enthralls his audience like a pied piper and you can see absolute silence and highly charged conversations in the same class.” – Satish Kumar

Andrew Wu, 38, is Associate Professor Of Technology And Operations at Michigan Ross. He is also the Michael R. and Mary Kay Hallman Faculty Fellow and the Stein Research Scholar.

His research centers on unlocking new business insights from human language and other unstructured data. He develops innovative natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision methodologies to extract operational intelligence, strategic insights, and trading signals from diverse sources such as corporate communications, news and social media, investor and executive interviews, etc.

His work received numerous research and practice awards, including the BlackRock Applied Research Award and seven Best Paper Awards from both INFORMS and finance societies. He was a finalist for the Financial Times‘ Research Impact Award. His methodologies have been adopted by a variety of industry practitioners, nonprofit and government organizations, and investment managers.

BACKGROUND

At current institution since what year? 2016
Education: B.A. Yale University, Ph.D. The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
List of MBA courses you currently teach: Empowering Business Decision Making with Generative AI; Fintech Innovations

TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR

I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when… Funny story. I took a personality test in college, then I looked up the most suitable careers for my personality (ENTP) and “professor” was somehow right there at the top. The next day I happened to sit in an amazing class at the School of Management. Not saying I was sold right there, but the seed was sown.

What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? I am studying the impact of generative AI in business practice and education. The interaction between humans and machines always fascinates me, and the rapid emergence of GenAI technologies—that brings them ever closer to each other—is posing both an enormous opportunity and a huge hidden risk for businesses.

If I weren’t a business school professor I would be… Astronaut or naval aviator. I’m fascinated by the sky, space, and the unknown.

What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? The direct linkage between my teaching and industry frontiers. All my teaching—content, cases, examples—are developed from my actual and ongoing work and collaborations with leading companies in the technology, finance, manufacturing, and service industries. This close association with industry leaders not only helps in advancing technological frontiers using research, but also ensures that the latest developments are quickly integrated into my curriculum. I have been using this approach from the get-go, and it allows me to offer my students a highly relevant and practical learning experience deeply rooted in cutting-edge applications.

One word that describes my first time teaching: Headache (My junior year. I worked as a math tutor for a high schooler and a kindergartener).

Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: “If you are thinking about it and have what it takes, just do it. It’s the greatest job in the world!”

Professor I most admire and why: Robert Shiller. I RAed for him in college and ended up in one of his books. Not only has he defined the entire area of behavioral finance, but he is also incredibly humble and generously helpful, even to us newbies just getting started with rigorous research work. Working with him truly kindled my interest in academic research.

TEACHING MBA STUDENTS

What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? Being able to make a positive impact on their professional and personal lives and helping out with their innovative venture ideas.

What is most challenging? Keeping my contents up to, and ahead of, the technology frontier.

In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Entrepreneurial

In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: Unmotivated

When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as… Fairly fair.

LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM

What are your hobbies? Connecting with nature—hiking & climbing. Connecting with machines—flying airplanes (both real and simulated).

How will you spend your summer? A 17-leg, around-the-world trip of research, teaching, and company collaborations—27,000 miles total. Let’s hope airline operations are up to par.

Favorite place(s) to vacation: The ultimate bucket list? Mons Olympus, Mars (counting on you, Elon)
More down-to-earth (literally): Paris, Tokyo (nothing to do with the Lupe Fiasco song, but happens to be two of my favorite cities on earth).

Favorite book(s): Fantastic fictions of both kinds: The science (Larry Niven’s Ringworld series), and the fantasy: (Lord of the Rings series).

What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? The Martian. I’m just a sucker for good sci-fi and it has a good soundtrack.

What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? The Eagles. I don’t think the Eagles need a reason.

THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS

If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this… A stronger emphasis on facilitating student entrepreneurship. I have seen many incredibly innovative and practical ideas from my students, and many of these ideas could have a transformative impact if properly nurtured and facilitated. We are uniquely equipped to provide these nurturing and support. I would love to see business schools becoming the innovation hubs of the future, where teaching, research, and industry collaborations synergize to cultivate the truly big ideas for the next century.

In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at… Improve the strategic preparation for the integration of AI and related technologies. This round of AI-driven transformation is accelerating faster than ever, and it is crucial for companies to prepare more comprehensively than before to ensure they are not left behind. Therefore, I think It’s imperative for businesses to develop a robust strategic framework that aligns their business models, roles, and performance indicators with the appropriate AI technologies, promote adaptability in the use of these technologies, and develop a framework in quantifying the impact of these technologies. Taking this approach will enable businesses to leverage AI effectively and maintain their competitive advantage.

I’m grateful for… My kids. They put a smile on my face every day.

DON’T MISS: THE ENTIRE 2024 ROSTER OF THE WORLD’S BEST 40-UNDER-40 MBA PROFESSORS